Picture this serial bully in a jail cell

Sunday

Mar 10, 2013 at 6:00 AM

By Dianne Williamson

Before I plead with someone, anyone, to please put Jesse J. Clark in jail, let’s recap some highlights from his impressive curriculum vitae.

The Charlton resident first rose to prominence, or should I say infamy, when his emails to a potential employer were so off-the-charts offensive that they populated the Internet as a classic example of how not to seek a job.

“It’s amazing that the Ma Bar lets women practice law,” was Clark’s response in 2010 to Auburn lawyer Rose Clayton, who had offered to employ the then-law student on a trial basis rather than full time. “Shouldn’t you be home cleaning and raising children?”

When a reporter for Lawyers Weekly wrote about the exchange, Clark created a nude modeling profile for him. Another reporter found his photo and phone number on a Craigslist “casual encounters” ad. As for Clayton, she became the subject of vicious cyber-bullying that referred to her as a “predator” and someone who needs a mental health exam.

Days after the emails surfaced, Clark announced on his blog that he decided not to finish law school, based on the local bar’s “lack of professionalism.” Instead, he revealed in a mangled metaphor that he would “let the cards fall where they land.”

Unfortunately for more than 80 couples from here to California, Clark would land in the wedding video business, where he proceeded to rip off devastated brides and grooms by taking their cash while failing to deliver their priceless videos. In January, Attorney General Martha Coakley filed a lawsuit seeking more than $75,000 in restitution.

A hearing was scheduled for Feb. 25 in Suffolk Superior Court, but Clark, 29, was a no-show. The next day, at a hearing for other civil judgments against him, he also failed to appear in Dudley District Court and a civil arrest warrant was issued.

But if Clark doesn’t like the courts, he certainly enjoys the cameras. On Thursday, he taunted his victims with an expletive-laced video on YouTube, calling them “(expletive) babies,” whiners and idiots. If they got scammed, he said, tough luck.

“You’re not getting a dime out of me,” he said, referring to Coakley’s lawsuit. “No money, no footage, no nothing.” He also charmingly suggested that the victims who complain about him on a Facebook page should “please write it down on a piece of paper, fold it” and shove it you-know-where.

He made the video just days after he did appear in court for assaulting a cameraman June 4 outside the Millbury Police Department. He admitted to sufficient facts and he was placed on probation for two years.

The man who tools around town in a black Hummer — reason enough right there to arrest him — is long on threats and short on even a modicum of human decency. After boasting that he made a half million from his Millbury video business, he told a lawyer for some of the couples that he’d file for bankruptcy before paying any civil judgments. He changed the name of his company in an effort to duck the bad publicity. He allegedly threatened brides who posted negative reviews of his business online, in an effort to warn others, that they’d never see their videos if they didn’t take down the reviews. Last year, he was arrested for allegedly posting threats against Sturbridge police on Facebook.

My personal favorite threat involves the Millbury police, which last summer was fielding almost 20 calls a week from Clark’s clients. After kindhearted detectives seized his hard drives and tried to salvage some of the footage with the aid of Astari Networks in Grafton, he threatened to sue them for interference with contractual relations. He would later claim that he couldn’t complete the videos because police had seized his hard drives. He also blamed his troubles on overworked or inept employees, dying videographers, and interference from Hurricane Katrina and, I believe, Irene.

Millbury Detective Nicholas Fortunato is among those who believe it’s time to charge Clark with a crime. After investigating the matter last summer, he said he spoke to the Worcester District Attorney’s office, which decided not to pursue criminal larceny charges.

“He’s made no attempt to make any restitution,” Fortunato said in an interview. “Even after all this, he was still trying to book weddings and rent offices in Connecticut. ... Honestly, I don’t know what his deal is.”

Clark’s long-suffering lawyer, Leonardo Angiulo, had no comment when I asked him point blank what was wrong with his client, although in Central District Court March 4 he blamed Clark’s then-undiagnosed bipolar disorder for the assault on the cameraman. He also said that Clark has “pursued” therapy and counseling.

It doesn’t appear to be working. Tomorrow, he’s due back in Suffolk court for a status conference in Coakley’s lawsuit. If he shows up, he should be thrown in jail. If he doesn’t, he should be thrown in jail. The only person who seems to disagree with this overdue course of action is Clark’s father, Gary.

“I wish you’d leave him alone,” he said. “The damage has been done.”

It’s been done, all right. Now, it’s high time for Clark’s close-up to take place behind bars, rather than before a camera.